The Clone Wars
by RougeJedi15
Summary: A series of one-shots of different viewpoints of soldiers, spies, and other soldiers -Mostly Separatists- throughout the Clone Wars, and then the subsequent fight against the rise of the Empire.
1. Separatist Spy

I looked around at the droids surrounding me, and started to issue out my orders.

"There is a clone command post about a mile and a half to the North. I am going to infiltrate it, and when you get my message be ready to attack."

The head droid nodded, then left to go alert the rest.

I strode quickly through the jungle, avoiding the two patrols I came across with ease.

I walked out of the jungle, and waved to the clones standing on watch.

"Hey, is there a Jedi on the premises?" I asked.

"No sir. Our commander is here though." The clone said.

"I have news of an upcoming Separatist attack, and I was told that this was the place to go."

"Yes sir. Come in." The clone said, nodding, and then he walked down to the gate and opened it.

I walked in and entered the fort, the clones closing the gate behind me.

I headed towards the commander's quarters, and soon entered the building, and saw the commander.

He had a big scar across his face, and he looked up questioningly.

I bowed, my scruffy clothing and youthful face causing him to feel sorry for this apparently homeless young man, still unused to the ways of the galaxy.

"Sir, I have news of an impending attack by the separatist army. Sir."

He nodded, looking at his desk, then looked up.

"When," He asked sounding weary.

"About three days or so. They are preparing for the attack about twelve miles away, keeping under the radar."

"Alright. Which direction?"

"North, but I assume they'll do a pincher move, hitting the northeast and northwest corners of the fort coming down the sides."

He nodded, then said, "I'll double the guard, then I'll Send a small party to reconnoiter, led by you."

"Yes Sir, no problem Sir." I said, saluting.  
"I'll call in the clones."

"Thank you. Sir"

The six clones walked in, and the commander quickly briefed them on the plan.

"You'll need to follow his orders, for now, but DON'T start a fight with the separatists unless necessary."

The clones nodded, then turned to me, saluting.

I nodded, then turned, calling back at them to follow me.

The clones followed me unquestioningly, and I led them into a small building that was labeled 'Storage room'.

"Arm yourselves. This will be a rough trail."

"Yes Sir!" The clone yelled, snapping a salute.

I watched until the six had turned their backs, then drew my pistol.

I fired twice, sending the commander of the six out of the land of the living.

"Attack Now!" I yelled into my comlink, Backing away from the remaining five clones.

I ran to the side, throwing myself behind a pile of boxes, holding my blaster pistol in one hand.

I knelt, aiming along the top of the lowest box, and started firing.

The first man charging fell, clutching at his stomach, and the following one dove for a hiding place, and hit the ground motionless, his helmet laying next to him with a burn mark in the back of it.

The other three disappeared, and I moved out, and rolled into the shelter of a pillar.

Blaster fire hit around me, and I twisted around to fire at the form that was standing up.

The clone with the repeating carbine fell back, clutching at a hole in his chest.

I ran forwards, diving into the crates where the other two were hiding, and the boxes crashed and splintered with my weight.

One of the clones screamed, a scream that was suddenly cut of with a crunching sound.

I looked around, and saw one clone with his head smashed underneath a crate that said 'Star fighter engine enclosed.'

The other was slowly backing away, a knife clutched in his hand.

When he realized that I was up, he dove at me, but my gun spoke twice, and he fell, two holes in his head.

I ran towards the door, and as I reached it, it opened, and I stepped to the side, preparing to fight my way out.

A rocket launched in, and destroyed many of the crates.

I sighed in relief, and stepped out, greeting the droids.

The droid commander snapped to attention, and said "Sir, the area is secured. The clones have been eradicated."

"At ease, commander. You have done well." I said nodding.

"Yes Sir."

I walked off, and they continued to destroy the clone supplies.

I looked towards the main tower, and saw the battle was still taking place over there.

I ran forward, grabbing a rifle from a dead clone and charging towards the battle.

As I drew near, I saw that the clones were holding the line with their snipers, who easily picked off the charging droids.

I threw my gun to my shoulder, and started firing three of the snipers spilled from their niches, and I ran forward.

I dove over the barrier, and as I came up, I took out another few, and then had to dive forward to keep from being hit by the thoroughly surprised troopers.

I lashed out with the butt of the rifle, and then kicked another one away, sending him to the ground to join his friends.

Suddenly the droids hit the barrier, and soon killed the remainder of the clones.

"Forward! To the tower!" I yelled, then the droids ran forward, firing at the clones that were stationed along the road.

The battle droid next to me fell, the burned hole in his chest explaining why the droid had fallen.

I fired at the clone, taking him in the head, and he fell back, dead.

The droids continued their charge, and I realized that the clones may be calling in reinforcements.

I led the clones, running up the hill at their head, and I shot down any clones that dared to show their faces.

Soon we were at the head of the trail, and I looked at the heavy metal gates.

We ran for them, and split, hitting them in the sides and back, where the defensive mechanisms were less.

I climbed over the wall, and came face to face with the commander.

"You?" He yelled, his hand going for his gun.

My hand drew mine first, due to hours upon hours on practice.

My gun was pressed into his face, and he let his slide back.

"Sorry, but all's fair in love and war, or something like that. Of course, this is war, and you, _commander_, are my prisoner."

He nodded, sadly, and followed me towards the gate.

"No funny business, or else, _You Are DEAD!_" My gun pushed more viciously into his back, and he nodded quickly, afraid of what might happen.

The gate was opened under his command, and the droids swarmed in, killing all who dared give resistance.

Soon, many Separatist ships came down through Duxn's atmosphere, and the surviving clones, along with their commander, were loaded on to be taken to a prison camp.

I jumped in my ship, a modified smuggling ship, and headed out to see Count Dooku, my boss.

As we left Duxn, I looked back at the rapidly shrinking forest moon, and realized that we had taken a moon in less than a day.

I looked forward, and thought that this was in the closing days in the war, and that we were going to win this war, and the Galactic Republic wouldn't have any say in the matters of their lives.

Who knew I could be so very wrong.

Very, very, VERY wrong.

**THE END**


	2. The Crew

A lone battle droid stepped slowly out of a ruined building, fanning the area with its shotgun.

Seeing nothing, it stepped out, slowly walking out into the village square.

It walked slowly forward, then saw a smoking Magna Guard on the ground.

The droid looked down at it, then continued on.

As it approached the square, more and more droid bodies lay around the streets.

It noticed one of the droids moving feebly, then lay still.

It entered the square, and swung the gun slowly across it, watching for any hostile movements.

"Anyone there?" It asked, and one droid, with some green on it, turned around from the other side of the square.

"Another survivor. At attention, soldier." It said, and the first droid snapped straight.

"Number." The second droid snapped, and the first droid mechanically said, "TT-93."

The second droid nodded, and then turned and walked away, followed by the first.

They soon met up with a Magna guard, one of Grievous' bodyguards, and an injured Super battle droid, which was missing it's left arm.

The four of them strode down the streets, looking for the cause of the damage.

They had completely controlled the planet for well over a year now, and had never been bothered by the Republic, until now.

"Check them for any footage of the attack." YR-25 said, pointing at a droid that had been fairly far away, but had a piece of shrapnel in it's head.

Being the only Magna Guard there, he had authority even over LG-74, the droid leader.

TT-93 bent over it, pulling out a fusion cutter, and soon had the memory core.

He put it into the hologram, and soon they saw it looking down at the village, then numerous buildings burst into flame with violent explosions.

They replayed it, and saw that they were all started inside the buildings.

Then, they saw a lone droid running up the hill.

It was dark brown, obviously not a regulation droid, and then when it slammed it's knife like piece of shrapnel into the droid sentry's head, it was proven.

"Well, well, looks like not all of our presence here was destroyed."

The four spun, their weapons lining up on the bounty hunter Freedon Hanaka.

"Come on, guys. We're all friendly. I was in control here, remember?"

They all nodded slowly, then lowered their weapons.

Freedon Hanaka looked at them, and said, "If who ever did this catches us, one of us has to survive to explain this to Grievous."

TT-93 asked, "Sir, if we're the last one left, how do we get off planet, as I doubt we could fight through to the ships."

"Find a way. I don't care how." Hanaka said, and the four droids nodded.

"To the ships!" YR-25 said, and the other four followed him as they headed to the docking area.

As they walked down a large avenue, they saw three more droids heading out of another street, but they were dark brown, and carried Bulldogs.

The HK-47 droids spotted them, and opened fire.

All five CIS soldiers dove out of the way, Hanaka's blaster snapping into his hand, as rockets hissed through the air.

The super battle droid was unlucky enough to fail to escape as three rockets slammed into its body, tearing it into pieces.

The rest returned fire, and after two of the enemy fell, the final HK-47 droid ran.

YR-25 started after them, but Hanaka's voice made him come back.

The remaining four continued to the docking area, avoiding most other patrols of the HK-47 droids, and soon reached the hanger where Hanaka's ship, the _Night Terror_, was waiting.

They boarded, and before taking off, noticed a couple HK-47 droids boarding.

TT-93 stood by the door, and as the first HK came through the door, it was practically torn in two by the blast from TT-93's shotgun.

The second one had it's head blown apart, then the final three burst in, one of them grabbing TT by the throat, and tossing him across the entrance, slamming him into a wall.

The shotgun slid from his grip, and he reached for it.

A heavy metal foot slammed down on his wrist, snapping it clean in two.

It then slammed it into TT-93's head, sending the weaker battle droid to the ground.

TT then hit the ground hard as the HK picked him up, then crushed him to the floor.

YR-25 ran in, his Bulldog firing a couple rocket's into the first two HK-47's heads, then crushed the other one's with a blow to the head from the gun.

Hanaka walked over to TT, and picked him up, carrying him into the medical bay.

He then pulled out TT-93's fusion cutter, first fusing his hand back on, and then fixing all of the loose circuitry that had been knocked loose by the beating he had taken.

Within an hour, TT was fixed, and he took his place at the ramp, ready for when they docked with the _Empress_, a Separatist ship that had been in orbit around the planet.

As the ship flew in for a landing, TT-93 made sure his weapon was fully loaded, then positioned himself at the ramp, ready for anything, while LG-74 stood right behind him, holding his blaster rifle ready to fire.

The ramp descended, and the droids exited the ship, covering the area with their weapons. There were a few battle droids standing around, but none turned to look at the newcomers.

YR-25 followed them out, along with Freedon Hanaka, and the four of them looked around at the still hanger.

"Yo, can we get this ship filled up?" Hanaka shouted, but not a single droid moved so much as a single metallic finger to acknowledge him.

He walked up to the nearest one, and pushed it, and the thing clattered to the ground.

After a brief search of the hangar, they found all of the droids were like that, including the maintenance ones.

"Back to the ship, you guys. Fast." Hanaka said, and the three droids made it to the base of the ramp before freezing, just like their comrades.

Hanaka looked at them, then tapped them a couple times, before determining to find the cause of this strange phenomenon.

Being able to freeze all of these droids would take lots of power, so Hanaka rushed straight down towards the engines, the biggest source of power in the ship.

He ran down the stairs to the base of them, and stood in front of the engines, then slowly raised his hands as he saw 4 HK droids with leveled Bulldogs.

He lowered them after a couple seconds as he realized that they were just as frozen as his crew.

He walked around them, whirling out a pair of pistols.

He blew holes in each of the four's heads, then continued around the engines, destroying every frozen HK-47 unit he saw, until he reached the control panel.

There was a technical droid there, bent over it, with three HK-47's behind him.

All four were frozen, with the tech droid holding a power coupling in place.

After blowing holes in the HK-47's heads, he proceeded to remove the coupling from the power supply.

As soon as it was removed, the tech droid looked around, saying, "Did it work, HK?"

When it turned, it saw all three HK units dead, and a tall bounty hunter standing there, with leveled blasters.

"Oh dear. Our master won't be happy about this." The tech droid said, and then was promptly ushered up to the _Night Terror_.

Hanaka took off in his ship, and headed off to Utapau, accompanied by TT-93, LG-74, and YR-25, and their prisoner, who was guarded by a pair of Super battle droids, AW-86, and AW-10.

They reached Utapau without any disturbances, and soon were ushered into Grievous's chambers.

"Hanaka, back to soon?" Grievous snarled, and the bounty hunter nodded.

"The lack of signals from our outpost was due to an attack by an unknown enemy, this tech droid knows the rest." Hanaka said, pushing the hapless droid towards Grievous.

As soon as it saw who it was, it whirled out two blades, and dove towards the Separatist leader, who contemptuously swatted it into the wall.

He then stalked over, smashing it's arms and legs with four well aimed stomps.

"This wasn't an assassination attempt, was it, Hanaka?" Grievous snarled, his two arms splitting and drawing lightsabers.

"No, General Grievous. We want you to find out what he knows of this target, the one who orchestrated this attack." Hanaka said, stepping back, though not one nervous twitch showed.

Grievous nodded slowly, saying "I'll get my technicians on it. But, if the trail leads back to you, no matter how far away you are, I'll find you, and eliminate you."

Hanaka nodded, and walked back out, followed by TT-93 and YR-25, as LG-74 and the two Super battle droids were asked to remain.

AW-10 came out a minute later, calling, "General Hanaka, sir! Grievous wants you to have a guard at all times, in case these HK-47 assassin droids attempt to kill you."

Hanaka nodded, and the four of them continued down the hall, reaching the hanger within minutes.

LG-74 and AW-86 showed up within a couple hours, and said, "The HK units are sent out by a man known as Juan Perris, a crime lord, on a long forgotten planet called Dagobah."

Hanaka nodded, and walked into the _Night Terror_, and started priming the ship for takeoff.

Blaster fire suddenly broke out, and Hanaka looked at his comlink, saying, "The Republic's here. Every one in. Now!"

All five of his droids, along with three assassin droids, got in, and he took off, with the assassin droids manning the turrets.

As the ship shot towards the sky, AA gun fire attempted to knock them out of the sky.

Hanaka sent the ship into a roll, evading the first burst of fire.

The sniper assassins fired back, their fire being mostly ineffective, but it caused the guns to be silenced for a minute.

They were almost out of danger by the times the guns opened up again, but a chance shot hit a turret, causing it to burst into flames for a brief second.

When they got away, they made a quick damage assessment, noticing that they had lost the one turret and the droid manning it.

They escaped into hyperspace sustaining no further damage, and were soon headed off to Dagobah.

As they neared it, TT-93 called out, "Sir, we have a visual."

Hanaka looked out, and saw a planet that appeared to be covered by a swampy jungle.

"Let's go straight in, TT. Everyone, load your weapons." Hanaka grinned, and watched his ship sweeping down to the planet below.

The ship came in for a landing, settling on a fairly hard island.

The ramp came down, and the eight of them got out. "LG-74, you, AW-86, YR-25, and MF-42 stay here. The rest of you, come with me."

The Droid leader saluted, and the four of them walked back in.

Hanaka led his group deeper into the swamp, then he stopped as he heard his comlink.

"Yes, Delso?" He asked, recognizing the Geonosian Gizkor Delso's voice.

"Grievous is dead, the CIS has fallen, as well as the Republic. The clones all turned on their Jedi leaders, and killed all of them, save for a few lucky ones."

Hanaka stiffened, and asked, "All of the Jedi?"

"Quite positive, Freedon. Now, the new Galactic Empire will track us down soon enough, so, we're destroying this channel, and we will cease contact. Delso, out."

Delso's voice cut off with a click, and Hanaka knew that would be the last time they talked.

He sighed, and turned to the droids behind him, saying, "The CIS has finally fallen. Our fight is over. With our leaders dead, and the new Galactic Empire in place, we are defeated. Though with the Republic reduced to shambles, and the Jedi dead, we may be able to reason with this Empire."

The droids looked at each other, and then TT-93 said, "We are still taking out Perris, right?"

Hanaka nodded, and his group continued on.

He paused a minute, saying, "Master Yoda, Kenobi, Windu, Fisto, Secura, anyone there?"

All he received from his comlink was static, until the familiar voice of Obi-Wan came through, saying, "Continue on, Tru. We need Perris taken out. See if you can survive the purge, but watch out for Vader. He knows you."

Tru Veld, a former padawan of Ry-Gaul, a famed Knight, put the comlink back, and got back into the character of Freedon Hanaka, a notorious bounty hunter.

He had played the double role for years, hiding it even from his best friend, Anakin Skywalker.

He caught up to his crew, and they continued on towards the only power source on the planet, which would be the base of Juan Perris.

They soon came within a mile of it, and started to watch for HK-47 units.

Suddenly, a silver version of the assassin droids stepped out, saying, "Threat: Hello intruders. Turn around, or be eliminated."

Hanaka's blasters jumped into his hands, firing, and the HK fell.

A couple more stepped out, but were shot down by the invading droids.

They made it all the way to the gates, killing many more droids before reaching the fortress.

The group stopped, looking up at the formidable, imposing metal gates.

Hanaka led them around one side, and saw a smaller metal door.

He walked to it, and hunched over the lock, pretending to pick it.

He grinned to himself, as he tapped into the Force, and turned the tumblers inside the door.

The door swung open at his touch, and the three droids followed him in, weapons at the ready.

They entered into a bright white, perfectly clean hall, with a black stripe down the center of the floor.

He led them through the hall, checking for any HK-47 droids, or the newer silver ones.

Seeing no one, they continued deeper into the fortress, all of them with their weapons constantly moving to cover the entire area.

They soon entered a more open area, and after checking for any HK units, they enter boldly.

"This place looks deserted." Hanaka said, and TT-93 agreed, saying, "There doesn't seem to be an enemy stationed here."

As soon as they said it, they heard metallic feet hitting the ground right outside in the hall, and the four of them crouched down behind a desk.

"Query: Master Perris, if we do not hear from HK-50-25 soon, may we go and search for him, and whatever killed him?"

The HK-50's voice came to them loud and clear, and then the voice of a man saying, "HK, nothing is going to happen on this back water world. No one would ever come here voluntarily, and even the CIS wouldn't come here after me. After all, it was only one little act of sabotage. And they're all defeated. Forever."

Hanaka vaulted over the desk, his blasters aimed right at Perris's heart.

His blasters lowered, and he asked, "Perris?" His former master, Ry-Gaul, lowered his rifle, and asked, "Uh..."

"Hanaka," Freedon whispered, and Perris nodded. "Hanaka?"

TT-93, MF-24, and AW-10 all stood up, aiming at the HK, and opened fire.

The HK-50 fell, and then Perris lunged over Hanaka's head, and his lightsaber blade sliced through MF-24's chest, leaving him in two pieces.

He then spun, and drove it through AW-10, and he too fell on his face.

Tru leaped between Perris and TT-93, saying, "Wait! He's mine."

TT-93 looked curiously at him, and then Hanaka said, "TT, your allegiance lies with me, right?"

TT nodded, and Perris nodded. "Tru, is it really you? I thought you were at the temple."

Tru nodded, and Ry-Gaul grinned happily, and thumped his apprentice on the back.

"Uh, master, who knows that you're Perris other than me?" Tru asked, and Ry-Gaul thought for a minute.

"Master Yoda. No one else. "

"That explains Kenobi's message that I still needed to get you."

Tru said, and Ry-Gaul's face instantly sobered. "You heard about the 'purge'?"

Tru nodded, saying "I was only able to get through to Kenobi. None of the others answered."

Ry-Gaul sighed regretfully, then straightened.

"I'll see you later, Tru. I'm blowing this place into the swamp, then heading out to some other backwater planet."

Tru nodded, and shook hands with his master for the last time.

"TT-93, we're going back to the ship." Tru said, then his master called out, "Tru, take my remaining HK-47 droids. They're more reliable than the HK-50's, and may help you hold off the Empire longer."

Tru nodded at his master, and then took off running out of the corridor, followed by TT-93 and the three remaining HK-47s.

The five of them ran out of the building, as it blew into a billion pieces behind them.

As they made their way back to the ship, Tru ginned to himself, thinking that Grievous should really be tracking him down, as he was indirectly linked to the attack.

As they reached it, they saw the ship abandoned, and only the top half of YR-25's body laying there.

Tru ran up to him, and asked, "YR, what happened?"

"Jedi Master Yoda, sir. He came upon us, and took us out. AW and MF are over there, and LG is in the ship, along with Master Yoda." YR-25 said, then shut down, dead.

Tru ran in, followed by TT-93 and the HK-47s.

Yoda turned around, and asked, "This ship, yours it was?"

Tru nodded, and Yoda spun towards him, his blade out, ready to eliminate the five Separatists.

Tru brought his own out, blocking Yoda's attack, and then slamming the Jedi Master into the wall with a powerful force push.

Yoda looked at him closer, and asked, "Tru Veld, you, it is?"

Tru nodded, and Yoda's face wrinkled up in a smile.

"Master Ry-Gaul, met him, you did?"

Tru grinned again.

"Yeah, but contrary to Grievous's last orders, I didn't kill Juan Perris."

Yoda nodded gravely, and asked Tru, "Where now will you go?"

"Tatooine, to enlist with Jabba the Hutt. Only way I see to get around this whole Order 66."Tru said, shrugging.

Yoda nodded, and said, "Here, on Dagobah, I will reside."

Tru nodded, then as Yoda left the ship, he called out, "May the force be with you!"

Yoda turned, and grinned, saying "May the Force be with you too, Tru Veld."


	3. Last Man on the Squad

"Squad, move in!" I followed the rest of the troopers as we stormed into the outpost.

The Droids that filled the room turned, and I saw Gamma 32 throw in a thermal.

As it exploded, we were showered by droid parts, though we kept pushing in, firing at will.

The room was filled with smoke, and visibility was almost nonexistent.

A droid loomed through the pall, and I smashed it's head in with the butt of my rifle.

With a metallic clang, the clanker fell, and I put a shot into it's chest, just to be safe.

Suddenly, red eyes shone, and the crackle of an electrostaff rose over the din of the fight.

The Magnaguard slashed out, the electrical end cracking against my chest, and sending me flying back.

I crashed against the wall, and my head started to pound.

The guard spun, swiping out at the rest of the clones in a mad whirlwind of death, not even bothering to discriminate between friendly droids and enemy clones.

I tried to get to my feet, using my rifle like a crutch, and managed to stand.

I raised my gun, and fired a shot right at the back of the Magnaguard's head.

The metal monster staggered forwards, then dove for me.

I held down the trigger, sending blue bolts tearing through the droid's chest.

It continued on, raising the staff high into the air, preparing to swing it with one hand.

I dove to the side, continuing to rain blaster fire into it's body and head.

Suddenly, one of the eyes went out, my shot burning it out, but the droid managed to turn and crash the staff into my side.

I grunted, my rifle flying off into the battle as I crashed over heavily on my uninjured side.

The guard stomped forwards with his heavy metal feet, twirling the staff in one hand.

I reached down and pulled out a pistol, shooting towards the thing's other eye.

The shots did nothing as they hit the metal that covered it's internal functions.

I scrambled to my feet, trying to reach my rifle so that I could actually do something against the beast.

From behind me, I could hear the sounds of my brothers dying, shots tearing through them, leaving charred holes in their armor.

I stumbled back, trying to avoid the vicious swings of the Magnaguard, while trying to get weapon.

As I took another step back, my foot landed on the arm of a crumpled battle droid, slipping as it shifted under my weight.

I fell, hitting my back hard on the ground.

In the droid's hand, there was a shotgun, and I scooped it up, rolling as the staff, crackling with purple electricity, crashed into the corpse of the droid.

I fired, and half of the Magnaguard's head was blown off.

Unfortunately, it was the side without the eye, though it left sparking wires sticking out.

It wasn't enough to stop the metal monstrosity, who kept coming, seemingly unhindered by the grievous injury.

I turned and ran, trying to avoid the many blaster shots that sizzled through the air around my head.

I dropped and rolled, the swipe missing me by inches, then turned and let the fiend have both barrels in the chest and face.

The Magnaguard stumbled back, it's head completely gone, and the chest with deep gouges in it.

I stumbled outside, trying to get clear of the smoke, and get to where I could maneuver a bit to avoid the rest of the droids.

A few seconds later, a hulking shape loomed out of the smokey pall, and the Magnaguard stalked out, twirling the staff.

Though it was headless, and its motions were slower, it was still on its feet, and able to kill.

Alpha 19 and Omega 44 tried to run out, and the headless Magnaguard stabbed right left, the staff crunching their helmets against the door, killing them.

I fired again, and again, and the guard's left arm was gone.

Headless, one-armed, and with deep pits pockmarking its chest, the Magnaguard was still imposing, and as it continued to stalk towards me, I felt the fear that I'd been shoving down start to bubble up at the sight of this apparently unbeatable droid.

I turned and ran, branches being pushed aside from my rapid flight.

After twenty yards, I dodged behind a tree, keeping my shotgun ready.

I pulled up some infrared goggles, looking for the mild heat signature that would give away its position.

It was there, slowly drawing closer.

I raised the shotgun, and as it pushed past the last branches, I fired as fast as I can, each shot punching holes in its chest.

Finally, the fiend started to fall, its torso torn in at least fifteen places.

Watching it fall, I felt a profound sense of relief wash over me, making me feel slightly giddy.

I headed back to the outpost, trotting along with my shotgun cradled in my arms.

As I neared it, I realized that the noise was dying down, and I burst into the clearing around the doorway.

The commander was outside, pulling himself by his arms, and pitifully calling for help.

I looked at him, and saw that his legs were dragging behind him uselessly, as a blaster bolt had hit him in the back of each knee.

Each shot had been perfectly aimed, and I backed off slightly, realizing that the shooter was probably using him as bait, trying to lure in more clones.

I drew a concussion grenade, and tossed it into the room, where the loud bang and bright flash would disorient anyone inside.

I ran forwards, ignoring the injured clone, and firing into the room with my shotgun.

The shots burned holes in the wall as the gunman rolled back, swinging up his twin Westar-44 blaster pistols, and firing at me.

I ducked, firing again, but the quick moving gunman had no problem rolling away.

He had on a thick jacket on over a light suit of armor, made of thin sheets of what I recognized as Beskar, or Mandalorian Metal.

No helmet, but he had on a wide-brimmed fedora, and ice cold blue eyes staring out from underneath it.

His mouth was twisted up into a smug smirk, and his small goatee moved along with it.

I couldn't see it, but I knew that if I pulled the hat off, I'd find short, yet mildly shaggy, black hair.

I'd never seen him in person, but he was one of the most Wanted criminals in the Outer Rim, as well as on core planets, like Coruscant.

Duncan Reardon was his name, and he'd carried out assassinations of high ranking political figures before, including Republic Generals.

Rumor had it that he had also killed a few Jedi in his stint as a paid mercenary.

"Well, well, well. One little clone, all alone. Quite a bit smarter that your friends, I take it?"

Duncan's ever present smirk was obvious in his voice, and I shrugged, adopting an air of cool indifference.

"Maybe. But I've known cleaning droids who were more intelligent than you." The shotgun blast blew away a stone bust, one of the few that had survived the original fight.

As Nute Gunray's head exploded, Duncan had already lunged off to the side.

"Ooh, oh so dangerous here on Kashyyyk. You know, one of us might not get out of here alive."

I smiled thinly.

"I think we both know who will die here, eventually."

Duncan chuckled, and said, "In that case, any final words?"

A second blast caused him to drop behind a control panel.

"No, not really. Do you?"

A thermal dropped quite nicely back there, and the panel exploded outwards, send thin shards of metal towards me.

The area behind it was deserted, and then I dodged to the side as a small vibroblade sliced near my neck.

"Close. But, alas, so far."

My flippant remark made him lash out more, aiming for weak points in my armor, like the neck, armpit, elbow, etc.

I dodged the slashes, and then Duncan pulled one of his pistols, firing almost point blank.

My armor would have held up to a few shots, but I turned and ran, slowing only to scoop up a rifle, my pistol, and another handful of shells for the shotgun.

After slinging the rifle to my back using the attached strap, I turned and let loose a pair of shots from the shotgun.

The Bounty Hunter stepped to the side of a doorway, letting the shots go past him, allowing me to get away into the forest.

As I left, I glanced at the wounded commander, and was about to try and help him, when a shot sounded from inside the outpost, and he twitched.

A closer look revealed that the shot had gone in the small gap between the helmet and armor, killing him instantly by going into his brain.

I left him, dodging through the trees, hoping to reach the extraction point, Eight hours away on foot, without being killed by the following hired gun.

I knew that he knew where I was going, and I was worried that he might have some sort of transport, and might get there first.

I doubled back, four feet to the left of the trail I had used coming in, and saw an underground hanger opening.

The two massive roof sections, covered with dirt and plants, to make it seem real, were sliding back into slots on either side, as a lift came up, bringing up the six speeders and two AATs to ground level.

Duncan jogged out, and still with his ever present smirk, swung onto a blue and white speeder, taking off through an old jungle path that I had noticed on our way in.

I waited until I could barely hear his bike, and jogged to the remaining bikes.

There was another blue/white one, a green/black one, brown/tan, yellow/black, and a green/brown/black one.

I hopped onto the yellow one, and quickly started the bike.

I took off after the smug killer, pushing the throttles almost to their stops in an attempt to catch up to Duncan.

After five minutes of insane piloting that almost ended with me embedded in one of the massive wroshyr trees that covered the surface of most of the planet, I saw him ahead in the distance.

Luckily for us, the Separatists were smart enough not to build deep in the forest, only on the fringes, and suddenly we were racing along a beach, with waves lapping up almost beneath my feet.

I opened fire with the built on chainguns, and their rapid fire tore through the air, headed for Duncan.

The mercenary heard the slight whirring of the guns as they warmed up, and he swerved slightly to the right to avoid the fire.

This put him closer to the water, and a large wave broke over his foot, forcing him to swerve left to avoid being sunk.

This put him in the path of my chainguns, and he ducked as the shots spattered on the back of his bike.

He continued to the left, getting him out of line with my guns, and I followed, making sure that the shots remained on him.

A humming sound came from behind us, and I craned my head around to glance at it.

A Wookiee Fluttercraft! Finally, I'd get back up.

It passed over us, and suddenly the tail gun opened up, the powerful shots smashing into the ground, and causing both Duncan and I to swerve around them.

I fired sporadically, hoping that some of the shots would collide with the Merc's speeder.

After about five minutes of this confusing maelstrom, a shot hit Duncan's speeder, causing him to swerve out of control.

The Fluttercraft's gun shut off, giving me more room to maneuver, and I swept in, firing my chainguns at the out of control Duncan.

He managed to turn the speeder, and was now on a collision course with mine.

He finally was able to fire, and the crimson blast snaked out towards me.

As we came together, Duncan leaped from his speeder, grabbing onto my engine cowling, and clinging on as I swept around, heading for the rendezvous point.

Duncan pulled himself forwards, his hat long gone, and the hair flying straight back.

His blue eyes were harder than ice, and his smirk was strained.

His knuckles were white from the fierceness of the grip that he had on the cowling, and he snarled, "I haven't come this far to be dispatched by a simple clone trooper. You are known by your number!"

I smiled thinly under my helmet, and said, "Better that than to be thought of with loathing. By the way, it's either Omega 4345, Omega 45, or Nexu."

"Nexu?" I noticed that he had pulled himself forwards, and had clamped his legs around the engine cowling, and was about to draw his vibroblade.

I let go with one hand, and clenched it into a fist, then hit a button.

On each finger, I had Nexu claws fitted into my gloves.

During the mission to Geonosis, I had claimed the claws of the dead Nexu, and, after having them fitted into my gloves, they had become my trademark.

They sprang out, and I swiped at Duncan's face.

The claws grazed him as he pulled back, leaving four long red lines across his cheek.

He howled in pain, and I slammed the throttles to their stops.

The bike lurched forwards, and the Bounty Hunter almost slipped off.

He clung on with his one hand, so I turned, and slammed my Nexu claws into his hand.

"Not so fun being the prey, huh, Reardon?"

The mercenary glared, trying to look threatening, but the pain in his hand was too great.

His fingers uncurled from the edge, and he slid backwards.

He reached forwards, and grabbed on with his other hand.

I pulled the claws out of Duncan's hand, and slashed at his face again.

I missed this time, but the bloodstained claws flicked a bit of the red liquid onto his face.

He let go, and I stopped the speeder.

I leaped off, and moved towards Duncan, who was slowly getting up.

His face spotted by blood, one hand with five holes in it, and the claw marks on his right cheek made him look less than able bodied.

Also, his clothes were singed from the fiery explosion from the damaged speeder, and he was limping from where his knee had slammed on the ground when he fell.

However, the hand that held the vibroblade was steady, and the determination in the cold blue eyes was unrelenting in its ferocity.

I stepped forwards, and smiled grimly, taking off my helmet.

My dark brown eyes stared right into his blue ones, and then he charged.

The blade slice down, and I caught it on an armored forearm.

He did the same with my claws, though I now had his arm trapped in a grip like a vice.

He slashed again, and I punched him with my free hand, before activating the claws on that one.

I could see it in his eyes.

Duncan Reardon, who had became a wanted my because of his vicious nature, and his coldblooded efficiency, was now feeling the icy grip of fear.

His eyes were darting all over, he was sweating bullets, and the knife hand was shaking slightly.

I stepped in, swinging with a fist that crashed against the man's jaw.

He fell back, and I slice my claws across he inside of his wrist, causing his hand to convulse and drop the knife.

Duncan stared at the blood oozing out of his wrist, and then tried to wrench his other wrist out of my grasp.

It did him no good, as he knew it wouldn't, but it made him feel better to know that he'd tried to do something.

"I saw what you did to my Commander. That's just torture, injuring a man, then leaving him to die as his men come to help him, and get shot themselves for their compassion."

He looked scared.

I backhanded him hard across the face, letting him go as he stumbled back.

"A-Are you gonna leave me to die too?"

I chuckled mirthlessly.

"It'd be justice, huh? No, I'm not that cruel."

He stared, and I quickly slashed his throat, ending it quickly and violently.

He crumpled, blood pooling under him as he lay there, dead.

I glanced at him, and then walked over to the speeder bike, retracting my claws.

Taking off, I made it to the rendezvous point, where the Fluttercraft had set down next to the six LAAT/i gunships were waiting to transport the surviving Clones back to the main encampment.

"Halt and Identify yourself." The sound of CC-2483's voice caused me to stop.

"Omega 4345, Nexu."

"Confirmed. Come in."

I left the bike, and walked into the circle of LAAT/i gunships.

"Where is the rest of your squadron, Nexu?"

"All dead. They had Duncan Reardon and a Magnaguard with them. Twenty was nowhere near enough."

CC-2483 nodded slowly, and said, "How did you get out, Nexu?"

"I used a shotgun on the guard from ambush, and defeated him, then Duncan tried to chase me down and kill me. After a chase that the Fluttercraft witnessed, his speeder was damaged, and he changed vehicles to mine. We fought, and I knocked him off. I dismounted, and killed him, then headed back here."

They nodded slowly, and the Commander said, "I want an official report, and Reyyev here will go and see if you managed to clear it out."

I dipped my head, and realized that my helmet was still by Reardon's body.

"Reyyev, when you go, could you stop by the wrecked speeder and retrieve my helmet."

The Wookiee nodded, and moaned an agreement.

I turned, and walked for a LAAT/i gunship.

It was empty, and I sat down on the cold metal bench, empty, unlike on the trip here, where it was filled to the brim with soldiers, his brothers.

To the Republic, they were faceless soldiers, tin men, where fatalities were merely statistics.

Numbers, just like Duncan Reardon said.

But to each other, they were brothers, and although almost identical, they were each unique.

I just wanted this war to be over, so me and my brothers, at least those of us who survived, could finally relax.

To sit back, watch the sunrise, and the sunset, without having one eye on the radar.

It was my dream. But so far, that's all it is. A dream.


End file.
